Home Depot, other retail stocks set for wild ride

Retailers have been severely shaken this earnings season, but there might be an options play that could make you money.

Nordstrom's, which did a very good job managing inventories during the credit crisis several years ago, dropped 15 percent the day after earnings last week after missing estimates by 15 cents per share. That represented the worst one-day post earnings price slump in over 10 years for the stock.

Another example, Macy's, which is popular with value investors for a high dividend combined with a low valuation multiples, also saw its worst single-day stock performance post earnings in over a decade, falling 14 percent.

What's going on? And is this a one-quarter phenomenon or is it likely to persist?